Robert Quick, MD, MPH is a medical epidemiologist in the Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

He received his medical training at the University of California, San Francisco, completed residencies in family practice and preventive medicine, and worked as medical director and clinician at the Indian Health Service hospital in Bethel, Alaska.

For the past 16 years, he has worked at CDC, conducting research on the etiology, control, and prevention of enteric diseases in the developing world. His work on cholera in Latin America and Africa revealed the seriousness and extent of the problem of lack of access to safe water and sanitation in the developing world and inspired a research focus on waterborne diseases and their prevention. With colleagues at CDC and the Pan American Health Organization, he developed the Safe Water System, a simple, inexpensive household based water quality intervention, and has conducted field trials in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to establish the evidence base supporting its use and dissemination (www.cdc.gov/safewater).

He has collaborated with numerous partners from the public and private sectors, NGOs, UN agencies, and academic institutions to implement and evaluate the Safe Water System and other water and hygiene interventions in vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV/AIDS.